The Mysterious Escape Of Convicted Criminal Jerry Bergevin Explained
Born in 1932, Jerry Bergevin was a Michigan man who had an affinity for breaking the rules (via USA Today). He would serve in the army in the 1950s before settling down and starting a family. As a father of three with little means, Prison Roster writes that he turned to safe-cracking and theft to provide for his family. However, Bergevin's life of crime would come with a cost. In 1962, he received a 15-year prison sentence for "breaking into a drugstore" and other burglary charges. He was subsequently sent to Jackson State Prison but he would not stay there for long.
According to the Daily Mail, Bergevin pleaded to be transferred to Camp Waterloo, a low-security facility to attend a dental technician training program. His transfer was accepted in April 1969. Officials have stated that at the time, Waterloo either had one barbed wire fence — or none at all. Whatever the case, Bergevin, then 37, never began his dental training. When officials did a headcount, they found that he was missing. Bergevin had managed to escape and he has not been seen since (per Reader's Digest Canada).
If alive, Jerry Bergevin would technically be a free man
The Daily Mail reports that a $25 reward was offered for Bergevin's return to no avail. The lack of technology in 1969 ultimately aided his breakout. However, new advancements have failed to find him (per USA Today). In 2013, his granddaughter Angela Michels, spoke out about her search for Bergevin. Various family members told Michels that he had died in California. There were also reported sightings of Bergevin in New Orleans. In 2009, officials got a tip that he was living in Detroit. When they visited his alleged home, they found that it had been burned down and abandoned years before.
Simply put, he had "dropped off the face of the earth." Prison Roster writes that the search for Bergevin's would come to an end in 2013. Per Fox News, he was granted "administrative discharge," because he had not been seen in 43 years and was at the time, 80-years old. This would mean that if he was found, he would not have to return to prison. Michels stated that this news was "bittersweet." Her grandfather was finally free but she had failed to uncover what had happened to him. If alive, Bergevin would be 90 in 2022. Michels has previously expressed her belief that her grandfather has long been dead.